Texas man’s open ‘letter’ to church after getting barred for anti-India rant on H-1B, Ganesh Chaturthi and …
Texas businessman Daniel Keene recently sparked outrage with his anti-India social media post. The now deleted post has got him removed from his local church and gym and also prompted him to publish a defiant open ‘letter’ on X (formerly known as Twitter). For the uninitiated, Keeene posted a video online of Ganesh Chaturthi procession which happened in his neighbourhood last month. Along with this he also wrote a controversial caption and asked for the cancellation of H-1B visas. “We have to cancel the H-1Bs. I want my kids to grow up in America. Not India,” Keene wrote in the now-deleted post. The video shared by Keene showed the Hindu religious celebration and it quickly went viral and drew a lot of backlash from the Indian American communities. Many also accused Keene of xenophobia (dislike against people of other countries) and religious intolerance.
Church and gym cut ties
After the viral incident, Keene was reportedly asked to apologise by his church for what they described as a ‘sinful’ act. However, he refused to the demand and stated that he stood by his views on immigration and cultural integration. As a result of this, Keene was removed from both is church and gym memberships. “I will not take back my H-1B comment,” Keene reiterated in his open letter posted on X.
The open letter: Defiance and justification
In his open letter shared on X, Keene defended his stance and claimed that it was not about race or religion but about preserving the cultural identity of America. He also argued that large-scale immigration via H-1B visas was charging the character of suburban neighbourhoods and schools.
Read Daniel Keene’s open letter here
Some facts the elders don’t bother disputing1. That when I asked on Sept. 10th if this would rise to the level of discipline Matt said “Brother this *is* discipline. If you’re asking if you’re barred from the table right now, no. But if you continue in this, yes.”They then referenced my “make church discipline great again” post 3 times over two meetings to point out the irony and that in Matt’s words that’s “what we’re doing”. 2. That I was told to leave the church on Sept. 24th in a dozen different ways over a two hour meeting with 7 elders and one staff member. Should I have called for a vote? The Bylaws say the elders can simply remove you. What more was needed? There is no option for resignation in the bylaws.3. That I expressed very clearly in writing and verbally in the 24th meeting that I wanted to remain as a member. That I was okay with losing my leadership positions I just simply wanted to be left alone and my disagreement with them should not be characterized as “not submitting”. In my own words I was “happy to sit in the pews”.4. That I was called for +7 hours of interrogation in response to my post.5. That I offered character witnesses from Indian friends. They declined. 6. That I asked to review my posts *against* racism. They declined. 7. That I asked Matt directly several times to please give me my offense in writing. Here’s one of the direct written quotes….“I feel very strongly that I would like the elders to communicate in writing the exact issue at hand and the sin I’m being called to repent of so as to avoid hearsay and division on anything other than the specific issue. There already seems to be some and I’m still confused about the issue. No response was given.And if you think those are the most egregious details I assure you they are not.
